Ace Attorney Deep Dive: “Turnabout Succession” (Apollo Justice – Case 4)

An artist is poisoned in his studio, a magic troupe’s dark secrets are revealed, and an old foe rears his ugly head. It’s final case time, and “Turnabout Succession” has a lot to say!

I’ll be deconstructing the case in ten distinct categories and giving a score out of ten for each. This will give a definitive score out of a hundred, if the maths checks out!

Before we begin, you can check out some of my related blog posts below:

Micro Story

Usually when you reach an Ace Attorney finale case you can expect a grand story about rotten prosecutors, lethal assassins or family grievances, so the art studio murder in “Turnabout Succession” feels quite tame in comparison.

Drew Misham, a forger posing as an artist, is poisoned in his isolated studio. In terms of Micro Story that just about sums it up – the Macro Story has a lot more meat on the bone (more on that in a bit), but in a bubble Drew Misham’s murder is good but not ground-breaking.

Score: 7/10

Macro Story

Apollo Justice has one of the best Macro Stories in the whole series.

The saga of Phoenix defending the mysterious Troupe Gramarye and losing his badge due to falsified evidence is controversial to some, but I absolutely adored it. This is a man at the peak of his powers, and his legal arrogance and aptitude for seat-of-his-pants bluffing finally lands him in some long overdue hot water. It also makes his redemption at the end of the case all the sweeter.

Klavier also gets a mini-redemption of sorts, finally stepping out of what must have been a daunting shadow left by evil brother Kristoph. My only complaint is that Apollo – the title character – feels underdeveloped and left by the wayside by the end. I got more out of the Gramarye storyline than I ever did out of Apollo himself!

Score: 9/10

Mystery

I wouldn’t say “Turnabout Succession” had many mysteries or reveals that truly blew my socks off, but there were enough turnabouts in quick succession to keep me on my toes.

Drew’s sketches of Apollo’s cases were the first indication that something strange was afoot, Magnifi Gramarye’s death was a constant conundrum, and Kristoph’s villainous motive was well teased and executed across the case and the game at large.

One twist that I both enjoy and dislike is that Apollo and Trucy are both Thalassa’s children, and therefore siblings. It comes out of left-field and doesn’t amount to anything, only serving as a last-minute and overly-explained reason for why Apollo has such an astute power of perception.

Score: 8/10

Side Characters

In what must be a record for this category, I have eight Side Characters I want to talk about. A lot happened in “Turnabout Succession”, y’all!

Let’s start with the eccentric Misham family – Vera Misham is the defendant in this case, and her silent personality is surprisingly quite fun. The reveal that her father Drew Misham was actually pretending to be the forger in her place also adds a nice family dynamic – and Drew’s strange fascination with Phoenix Wright is oddly humanizing.

I’ll rattle off Troupe Gramarye next – Valant Gramarye is someone we’ve met before but it’s cool to see his arrogant younger self, Lamiroir being Thalassa Gramarye is a neat twist albeit predictable, and seeing Zak Gramarye a.k.a. Shadi Enigmar a.k.a. Shadi Smith in his boisterous prime is a sight to behold. The jury’s out on whether he was actually a good father to Trucy, however …

A character I’m pretty mixed on is Spark Brushel, the oddball reporter. He’s nowhere near as charming as someone like Lotta, but the twist that he’s more in the know about Troupe Gramarye than he lets on definitely recontextualizes his whole character.

We also see two classic characters return – the worst of these is definitely Mike Meekins (although him stealing his police uniform so they didn’t have to re-draw the sprite is quite funny), but that doesn’t matter when Dick Gumshoe returns to the witness stand! His cameo is much appreciated during one of the most intense portions of the game.

As is to be expected with a cast this big, some characters hit and some characters miss.

Score: 7/10

Soundtrack

There aren’t that many new additions to the “Turnabout Succession” soundtrack other than a prison cell theme here and a psyche lock revival, but that’s not what makes this soundtrack so great.

The flashback section where you play as Wright during his final trial is scored with the same music as the first game in the series. I try to stay unbiased when I do these kinds of retrospectives … but that fanservice is just so cool!

Another track I don’t see getting enough love is “Drew Studio”, the Misham’s theme. It’s mysterious and slick, and it sounds like something ripped straight from the “Ghost Trick” soundtrack.

Score: 9/10

Investigations

The art studio location is pretty neat, and I quite like the X-ray minigame where you discover the secret of Misham’s paintings, but that first set of Investigations is hardly what people will remember from “Turnabout Succession”.

The second Investigations is much longer and revolves around the MASON System – an investigation tool compiled by Phoenix Wright to help jurors understand the events of present day as well as seven years ago. It’s presented in a really slick way, even if the Investigation can get quite railroaded while you try to find the next way forward.

On top of that, the magatama returns to make Investigations that much more engaging – something the rest of Apollo Justice was missing.

Score: 8/10

Trials

Like with the Investigations, the first Trial is pretty forgettable in the grand scheme of things. Most of the run-time is spent proving that Drew Misham was a forger – something we already knew – so it’s only at the end of the Trial when it’s revealed to be Vera doing the forgeries that things start to pick up. Ema’s Kristoph impression halfway through is also too random for my liking.

But unlike the Investigations, there are three Trial segments in total – the second of which is the best and focuses on Phoenix’s final Trial. There’s a palpable sense of dread up until Phoenix presents the forged evidence, and it was reminiscent of gameplay straight from the original trilogy.

Sadly, the very final Trial against Kristoph doesn’t pack quite the same punch. Although Kristoph is a memorable foe, the battle is quite short – and the Jurist System providing the killing blow is a little anticlimactic after everything we’ve been through.

Score: 7/10

Case Logic

The crime itself makes enough sense, but there are two humungous logical flaws in “Turnabout Succession” that are hard to look past.

First and foremost is the MASON System and the order in which evidence is presented. Things like the nail polish and the fact that Thalassa was Magnifi’s only daughter are presented in the past despite being uncovered in the present day, and there’s also a weird inconsistency where Phoenix jumps between the Borscht Bowl club, Drew Studio and back to Borscht Bowl again to continue a conversation despite this being impossible in the established timeline.

The other, much funnier plot hole is the fact that Phoenix Wright – a disbarred lawyer who is a forger and a con in the eyes of all law officers – managed to set up a Trial and an entire new system of law by himself. Oh, and he provided all the evidence to the jurors. Let’s give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he didn’t forge this evidence like he did seven years ago …

Score: 6/10

Culprit

Other than Dahlia Hawthorne in Trials & Tribulations, I can’t think of another Culprit in the series that appears twice in one game. What makes Kristoph’s appearance in “Turnabout Succession” even cooler is that he’s already incarcerated for his crimes in “Turnabout Trump”, and this particular murder was a ticking time bomb set up seven years ago.

I love his petty motive of spiteful revenge towards Phoenix and Zak, and his deranged breakdown when he finds out the “common riff-raff” will decide his fate is easily one of the best in the series.

The only drawbacks are that his plan is quite passive (and therefore not as terrifying) in this case, and his takedown is too short and anticlimactic in the final Trial.

Score: 8/10

Charm

“Turnabout Trump” was engaging for its twists and turns, but I’d say “Turnabout Succession” is equally engrossing for its dense mystery and ties to another captivating case seven years prior.

The MASON System also added a nice dynamic – it’s kinda weird if you think about it, but I can appreciate how the developers went for something cool and interactive rather than by-the-book and mundane.

Score: 9/10

FINAL SCORE: 78/100

“Turnabout Succession” has all the hallmarks of a fantastic finale case, but it drops the ball in a few key areas. As a result, it’s one of the least remarkable among a sea of incredible Ace Attorney final cases.

Here are the scores of every “Apollo Justice” case ordered from best to worst:

1 – Turnabout Trump [81]

2 – Turnabout Succession [78]

3 – Turnabout Corner [59]

4 – Turnabout Serenade [47]

The middle cases had some serious problems, but the first and last cases of “Apollo Justice” made it a worthwhile entry in the series – even if it remains one of my personal least favourites.

Aaaaand that’s my list! You can check out some of my latest blog posts below: